Presentation at the Faith and Freedom Summit 2018

Presentation by Rev. Eric Roux, Vice President of the Church of Scientology European Office of Public Affairs and Human Rights at the Faith and Freedom Summit in Brussels

The creation of the EU guidelines on the promotion and pro­tection of freedom of religion or belief (2013) marked a turning point in the Union’s attitude toward this crucial fundamental right. However, while the guidelines specifically state that “the EU and its member states are committed to respect­ing, protecting and promoting freedom of religion or belief within their borders,” they are neither binding on the EU mem­ber states nor applicable to the internal affairs of the European Union. These are guidelines for external relations with non-EU states.

Working directly in the field of freedom of religion or belief for more than a decade now, I have witnessed a strong re­luctance from EU institutions and its agents when it comes to tackling freedom of religion or belief within the EU. Many justifications are used, the more common being that it would not be within the competence of the Union, which is basically false.

Freedom of religion or belief is a crucial right, and its respect reveals a great deal about the attitude of a country toward freedom in general. This is because what people believe is their most ultimate freedom—their link to God, or to the ultimate sense of life, and the expression of these inner beliefs—is the most profound richness of a human being.

This is what gives sense to our life, whether we are religious or non-religious, and what allows us to deal with all other freedoms in the frame of what we choose to believe, or not to believe. When a state attempts to restrict the freedom of reli­gion or belief of its citizens by discriminating against certain religions, inhibiting the right to choose or change one’s own faith, that state demonstrates it does not want Man to be free in all his aspects. In such a state, we can also witness a degrada­tion of all other freedoms as a consequence to the degree to which the freedom of belief of its citizens is inhibited.

In our world, I do not know one state that is perfect as regards this right. Some are better than others. However, there is progress needed everywhere, in­cluding in the European Union. Being a member of the clergy of the Church of Scientology for more than 25 years, I can defi­nitely say that Scientology has had its share of unwarranted discrimination and infringements against the freedom of religion of its members. Never­theless, I would never advocate solely for my fellow parishio­ners, as this would be contrary to what freedom of religion or belief really is. If one is advocating freedom of religion and belief, one has to under­stand that this is a fight that must be fought for all, always. This includes majority religions, minority religions, atheists, as well as “religious minorities that may be the subject of hostility on the part of a predominant re­ligious community,” as stated in the General Comment 22 of the UN Human Rights Committee.

Islam nowadays has become the target of hate speech in Europe­an Union member states. Hate speech is one thing, but there is also real discrimination against Muslims in their daily life. In some countries, Sikhs face strong restrictions, as in France, regarding their dress codes. Christians also may face dis­crimination, even where they could be considered as a ma­jority religion. Jewish religious traditions are also in danger of being forbidden in some EU countries. In fact, the European Union is far from perfect as regards freedom of religion, and some EU countries are quite bad on the subject. Our future depends on whether we will allow the situation to wors­en or will we assume respon­sibility for it and effectively include it in the agenda of the European Union institutions, keeping in mind that the EU is legally bound to respect and enforce freedom of religion by its core treaties, by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, and by its commitment to re­spect the European Convention on Human Rights.

This is not a question of political orientation. So far as I am con­cerned, I would never link this freedom to the left or the right, as that would not only be detri­mental but also opposed to what we see in real life. Religious freedom defenders and advo­cates belong to the whole po­litical spectrum. Furthermore, Scientology is apolitical, and purposefully so. It considers its mission to be for the sake of all, no matter one’s political choice. But when it comes to defending the right to freedom or belief, all sides should be together, as whatever political choice we make, whatever belief we choose to embrace, we must stand for those who are suffering for their core be­liefs, suffering discrimination based on religious affiliation, restrictions on their churches, disparaging statements against their religion from authorities, as well as all other forms of violation of the aforesaid fun­damental right to believe and practice one’s own faith.

If the European Union has ac­cepted the challenge of being a strong promoter and protector of freedom of religion or belief outside its borders, it goes without saying that we must put our own house in order. This is a question of credibility, and then a question of efficiency, in addition to being a question of legality, morality and human dignity, as it should be regard­less of reference to our external mission.

These are words, and these words need to be put into reality. That means concrete changes. One of them should be to create ways to increase the religious literacy of politicians and EU stakeholders. Ignorance is often the real source of discrepancies between international stan­dards and real life. Ignorance about religions and what they are might be the first ignorance. But also ignorance about what is freedom of religion or belief, what it encompasses, what should be good practices, and what it means in terms of the duty of a state and its rep­resentatives. I expect that real knowledge of these concepts would bring about a great deal of change, and programs should be developed to increase them at EU level as well as state level.

There are many other initia­tives that could be taken to improve the reality of religious freedom in the EU. They are to be discussed and created. They should be one of the priorities of the Union. If we do not tackle it now, it is likely to be much more difficult in the future within a Union where freedoms are degrading, which will certainly be the case as a consequence of not taking responsibility for protecting the most inner freedom of our fellow human beings. That is the rea­son for the Faith and Freedom Summit: Practicing What We Preach, which is not only an event, but a campaign that must lead to concrete and significant results in the future.

From its beginnings, the Church of Scientology has recognized that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. In a world where conflicts are often traceable to intolerance of others’ religious beliefs and practices, the Church has, for more than 50 years, made the preservation of religious liberty an overriding concern.

The Church publishes this blog to help create a better understanding of the freedom of religion and belief and provide news on religious freedom and issues affecting this freedom around the world.